Leveling adventuring fellows is brutally slow at high levels

[Edyth]

My fellow is level 91. The double experience weekend let me level her up from 89, and I don't plan on working on her more until the next double experience weekend or until she can go to Adoulin.

It takes several hundred easy prey enemies for her to level up. I level her up in Zeruhn Mines because there is active GoV participation there, there's no aggro or linking, the monsters are easily soloable if there's no one else there, and the pace is good.

I could go to a nastier GoV area, but I'm just leveling up my goofy ass adventuring fellow, and I feel like the reduction in kill speed and the increased dangers wouldn't make it worth it.

I would like it if there were an item to increase fellows' experience gain. I suggest that the food items such as Homemade Risotto from the tactics pearl quest have this effect. 1 experience boost per week is less than players get and is not overpowered.

I would also like the opening of Adoulin to adventuring fellows to be implemented faster. We could all use the help with Reives and farming in Adoulin, and the experience gain would be better, and in Adoulin, the adventuring fellow would not just be for lolz.

[Zagen]

Wouldn't it make more sense to kill higher level targets as the fellow only gains EXP from monsters killed and not from the FoV/GoV completion or did I miss something and they changed them to gain exp from page completion?

[Mirage]

You need to level him or her on mobs that are 6 levels above her to get max exp. If she's 90, you should be targeting mobs that are DC, or close to EM. If she is 94, you probably need to head into T territory to do it at a reasonable pace. I generally did it on FeiYin big bats, they are lv97-98ish, I think. I didn't think it was all that slow when I did it on DNC99.

Sorry to burst your bubble though. If allthey do is give the fellows another 4 levels, they will be "just for lolz" in adoulin as well, as they would be unable to heal you reliably or deal anything that resembles decent damage. They are horribly underpowered compared to our own "level 99s". They need gear that at least put them on par with a player wearing "content level 100" gear, going by SE's gear tier system that they seem to have adopted now. That'd be something to spend all our fellow points on, at least. Bayld *3 fellow points to get the bayld armor, for example, or just add some quests in SoA where we unlock better "roles" for them to take. These new roles could come with higher combat performance included, if implementing actual gear for NPCs is too much work.

[OmnysValefor]

What i've always wanted for fellows:

Allow us to trade them gear. Rare/ex gear even. I'd totally trade my npc a noble's, some healing weapon, and the orvail set.

Better than dropping the stuff, that's for sure.

NPC's AI is horrible though and they'll always be worthless. She comes out, buffs both of us, hastes one of us, and starts whining about MP. Never fear though, she's got enough MP for paralyze to be resisted 20 times.

I'm sure people with the magian weapons that are now useless (not all but several are) would love to at least trade that to their NPC, and someday, when they've no longer use for it, a delve weapon.

[Edyth]

Wouldn't it make more sense to kill higher level targets as the fellow only gains EXP from monsters killed and not from the FoV/GoV completion or did I miss something and they changed them to gain exp from page completion?

Why would it make sense? Her experience doesn't change with GoV, but mine does. I might as well make the most of the massive time sink that adventuring fellows are.

GoV targets also go high enough that I could target max-NPC-experience-per-kill monsters if I wanted to do so. However, I'm not aware of a great location to do that. I will give Fei'Yin a shot, as Mirage suggests.

[Xantavia]

Why would it make sense? Her experience doesn't change with GoV, but mine does. I might as well make the most of the massive time sink that adventuring fellows are.

GoV targets also go high enough that I could target max-NPC-experience-per-kill monsters if I wanted to do so. However, I'm not aware of a great location to do that. I will give Fei'Yin a shot, as Mirage suggests.
Check out the basement of Garlaige or the Donut Room in Crawlers Nest. Both have higher level mobs, and GoV pages as well.

[Dragoy]

There's indeed a lot of things they could do with them fellows, and experience points gain changes could be one of them. I guess what has more or less always been on the top of my list, would be the ability to have them rest for MP without us having to rest as well.

You know, like healers used to do...


I would also like the opening of Adoulin to adventuring fellows to be implemented faster. We could all use the help with Reives and farming in Adoulin, and the experience gain would be better, and in Adoulin, the adventuring fellow would not just be for lolz.

I very much doubt that they will ever be able to join a rave. Or Reive. I would imagine them to disband when you get the status effect. I guess they could change that, but I am quite doubtful.

It could be cool if they did. However, Reives should become easier to do soon'ish either way, when they add the NPC forces. I just hope it wont be like Bastion...

[OmnysValefor]

Actually I thought they'd specifically said NPCs (Ours, and "mercenaries") were being implemented into reives.

I'm pretty sure that's what Edyth is referring to as well.

[Babekeke]

The tactic's pearl quest itself is a fairly good way to get exp for your NPC. 5700 exp per week (if you kill 30+ mobs [including TW mobs] and touch all 5 ???s before ending the quest). Obviously you're looking at 10 weeks if this was the only time you gained any exp for your NPC. But, if you never call your NPC, then why do you need to level it?

You can also get ~1k exp from scroll from NPC in Ru'Lude every 10k bond points.

[Alhanelem]

You need to level him or her on mobs that are 6 levels above her to get max exp. If she's 90, you should be targeting mobs that are DC, or close to EM. If she is 94, you probably need to head into T territory to do it at a reasonable pace. I generally did it on FeiYin big bats, they are lv97-98ish, I think. I didn't think it was all that slow when I did it on DNC99.

Sorry to burst your bubble though. If allthey do is give the fellows another 4 levels, they will be "just for lolz" in adoulin as well, as they would be unable to heal you reliably or deal anything that resembles decent damage. They are horribly underpowered compared to our own "level 99s". They need gear that at least put them on par with a player wearing "content level 100" gear, going by SE's gear tier system that they seem to have adopted now. That'd be something to spend all our fellow points on, at least. Bayld *3 fellow points to get the bayld armor, for example, or just add some quests in SoA where we unlock better "roles" for them to take. These new roles could come with higher combat performance included, if implementing actual gear for NPCs is too much work.
You understand that when you are a lower level the NPC syncs down to you, and gains XP based on that level right?

[Zagen]

You understand that when you are a lower level the NPC syncs down to you, and gains XP based on that level right?

You understand you're the first person to mention Level Syncing? Instead of coming off like a douche you could have reworded that suggesting Level Syncing with a friend(s) who happen to have lower level jobs would be a great way to level your fellow as it would allow for maximum EXP gain while generally reducing the monster kill time. Assuming they changed the fellow to be usable during level sync.

[Mirage]

You understand that when you are a lower level the NPC syncs down to you, and gains XP based on that level right?

Unless recently changed, you are wrong. If the npc syncs down, she or he does not gain exp based on their now lower level.

[Dragoy]

Actually I thought they'd specifically said NPCs (Ours, and "mercenaries") were being implemented into reives.

I'm pretty sure that's what Edyth is referring to as well.

I believe this is the statement we are thinking of:



For adjustments to come after the above, we are currently looking into doing things such as implementing a system where NPCs join Colonization and Lair Reives, allowing adventuring fellows to be called in Adoulin areas as well as increasing their level cap, and hiring mercenary NPCs in order to help out solo and low-man play.

Looking at both, the translation as well as the Japanese wording, I would guess that it refers to NPCs as seen in Campaign and Bastion for example. Not Adventuring Fellows, which will be possible to be called in Adoulin areas, but I would assume they are unable to participate in raves and/or Reives.

That's just my guesstimate, of course!


You understand you're the first person to mention Level Syncing? Instead of coming off like a douche you could have reworded that suggesting Level Syncing with a friend(s) who happen to have lower level jobs would be a great way to level your fellow as it would allow for maximum EXP gain while generally reducing the monster kill time. Assuming they changed the fellow to be usable during level sync.

I'm pretty sure that Adventuring Fellows still don't like to Level Sync, meaning they will skedaddledly disband when one is activated. I believe Alhanelem is referring to an adventure with something like a level 60 job set as one's main job while the fellow is higher than that. As you probably know, they indeed do scale down.
I was never really sure how they gain experience points in such a situation. I guess I always thought they get less, if any.

That said, without adjustments, I wonder what it will be like to get them to level up even higher when their limits are further raised once more again. Oh well... there are them Promyvions...

[Alhanelem]

You understand you're the first person to mention Level Syncing? Instead of coming off like a douche you could have reworded that suggesting Level Syncing with a friend(s) who happen to have lower level jobs would be a great way to level your fellow as it would allow for maximum EXP gain while generally reducing the monster kill time. Assuming they changed the fellow to be usable during level sync.
You understand it wasn't my intention to be a douche, and it wasn't necessary to be one in return? (both that time and this time, it's intended as tongue-in-cheek)

....

Anyway, I thought this was common knowledge. when you're level 5-10 killing enemies that give 2-300 EXP easily, your NPC still gets that much, even if they're level 90. It's generally easier than trying to do it in the mid to upper levels because Grounds of Valor is typically done on weak mobs that don't give much XP and they can't go to abyssea. When I'm leveling a lower job I always solo with the NPC because it's the best oppertunity to get him XP. This doesn't help if you already have all jobs 99, but it is an option for many.


Unless recently changed, you are wrong. If the npc syncs down, she or he does not gain exp based on their now lower level. I'm not wrong. It has always been this way. my NPC levels up much faster when I'm leveling a new job than when I try using it to solo things closer to its/my level. The closer he/she is to 99, the more true this will be. If your NPC is far below you, they will be getting cap EXP on mobs you can easily kill; but once that's no longer possible, this is a good way to get XP for the NPC.

[Mirage]

So then it's word against word. First to post actual data wins a cookie!

[Herby]

I have to side with Mirage. The EXP the Adventuring Fellow gains are solely based on his/her REAL level. The only way Al could see an increase in lvl is because those mobs he fights with lower lvl jobs are still EP to the fellows real lvl. I know this for a fact since I used to wonder why my NPC didn't lvl when i lvled multiple jobs from 10-37 back in the days while my fellow stayed around 52~53

[Babekeke]

You understand it wasn't my intention to be a douche, and it wasn't necessary to be one in return? (both that time and this time, it's intended as tongue-in-cheek)

....

Anyway, I thought this was common knowledge. when you're level 5-10 killing enemies that give 2-300 EXP easily, your NPC still gets that much, even if they're level 90. It's generally easier than trying to do it in the mid to upper levels because Grounds of Valor is typically done on weak mobs that don't give much XP and they can't go to abyssea. When I'm leveling a lower job I always solo with the NPC because it's the best oppertunity to get him XP. This doesn't help if you already have all jobs 99, but it is an option for many.

I'm not wrong. It has always been this way. my NPC levels up much faster when I'm leveling a new job than when I try using it to solo things closer to its/my level. The closer he/she is to 99, the more true this will be. If your NPC is far below you, they will be getting cap EXP on mobs you can easily kill; but once that's no longer possible, this is a good way to get XP for the NPC.

I used to do this all the time (and I mean a LOT), and I have never seen my NPC level up, or even change from "I've just levelled up" to "I'm nearly halfway there" or whatever.

As far as I'm aware, or have ever seen any proof of, your NPC gains exp based on their actual level vs mobs level, and if you are much lower than their level, they get nothing.

[Mirage]

That's why I said that if they do now, it must have been a recent change. My NPC definitely didn't gain any levels when I used her to solo many years ago.

[Kincard]

NPCs have never gained XP when they get synced down nor did they ever change it. I don't know where Alhanelem is getting this from.

[Alhanelem]

I used to do this all the time (and I mean a LOT), and I have never seen my NPC level up, or even change from "I've just levelled up" to "I'm nearly halfway there" or whatever.

As far as I'm aware, or have ever seen any proof of, your NPC gains exp based on their actual level vs mobs level, and if you are much lower than their level, they get nothing.
My NPC indeed has leveled up while fighting low level monsters. They get EXP from it.

[Babekeke]

My NPC indeed has leveled up while fighting low level monsters. They get EXP from it.

I'd love to see a screenshot of it happening if you have 1 (preferably in a zone that has no new higher level mobs). This has most definately not always been the case and I'm still 99% certain that it's not the case now.

[Xantavia]

My NPC indeed has leveled up while fighting low level monsters. They get EXP from it.
Was it by any chance the first mob you killed that they leveled up on? The only time I've seen it happen myself is after the first kill, which I'm thinking came from buying an xp scroll and it happened to push them over, so that the first fight in the field leveled her up.

[Lithera]

I can sort of back up his case. My npc is 77 atm recently i was in the 30s-50s and was duoing with her for almost max time. She was 76 at the time and we had just killed a mob and then she went all hey I'm 77 now with fan-fare. Mine when we talk does change her xp to go quota. Normally I won't see a change unless its been a duo session that's been taken to max time. Heck my mule's npc went to 31 while my mule was only 24 on her war. Highest job is whm at 30.

[Kincard]

I admit there's definitely something weird about how NPCs level up though, given that they don't just level up the instant you kill a monster. I've had NPCs level up like 10-20 seconds after killing a monster, or while i'm halfway through killing the next one, so there's something weird going on in the background there (Maybe it doesn't register until the corpse disappears? Dunno).

[Herby]

Would be certainly nice to have some sort of official answer to those conflicting statements.

[Babekeke]

I can sort of back up his case. My npc is 77 atm recently i was in the 30s-50s and was duoing with her for almost max time. She was 76 at the time and we had just killed a mob and then she went all hey I'm 77 now with fan-fare. Mine when we talk does change her xp to go quota. Normally I won't see a change unless its been a duo session that's been taken to max time. Heck my mule's npc went to 31 while my mule was only 24 on her war. Highest job is whm at 30.

If you are lower than your NPC, but fighting mobs that would still con EP to it (at it's normal level), then you are still getting 200 exp/mob.

What Anelheim is insinuating is that a a lvl 80 NPC will level up whilst you are killing level 10 mobs.

[Mirage]

I thought they needed to be EM to the NPC.

[Lithera]

If you are lower than your NPC, but fighting mobs that would still con EP to it (at it's normal level), then you are still getting 200 exp/mob.

What Anelheim is insinuating is that a a lvl 80 NPC will level up whilst you are killing level 10 mobs.

I have had my npc out killing things that would be too weak to my npc if it was not synced down to my lv 20 job and it still got xp.

[Mirage]

I think i'll test this out myself when I choose to level bed, which is currently lv1. Or maybe pup.

[Babekeke]

I have Geo1 and Pup30 myself. Only jobs that are lower than my NPC. Not really fussed about levelling either of them, but I am interested to see proof one way or another.

[Mirage]

i have a 92NPC which I can probably grind to ~10% to her next level, then get on pup for fast low-level kills. I'll get back to this thread when I've done so. It might be a while, cause I don't have time playing now with lots of work to do and E3 stuff to catch up with.

[Demon6324236]

I think i'll test this out myself when I choose to level bed, which is currently lv1. Or maybe pup.Hmm~ level bed... I think Ill do that right now, good night...

zzz~

[Babekeke]

Hmm~ level bed... I think Ill do that right now, good night...

zzz~

Demonjustin's Sleeping skill increases by 0.1

[Alhanelem]

What Anelheim is insinuating is that a a lvl 80 NPCDo you mind if I call you bakblablabla?

[Demon6324236]

Do you mind if I call you bakblablabla?Your name is difficult to think of without looking 3 times or copy pasting, so unless I were directly quoting you I can either refer to you in some way such as a variation of your name which everyone will understand, or I can be vague and unspecific about who I am talking about. Yes, people do not spell or put your name correctly, but maybe its partly your fault and you should have made it comprehensible to most people so they could read it and type it easier?

[Dragoy]

Your name is difficult to think of without looking 3 times or copy pasting, so unless I were directly quoting you I can either refer to you in some way such as a variation of your name which everyone will understand, or I can be vague and unspecific about who I am talking about.

Funny. I never had problems with Alhanelem.
Your name, however... ^^;

I blame myself for that, though, for I have a terrible memory when it comes to anything with numbers (and yeah, there is your character name, but I tend to refer to people with their forum names in forums).
I might also take extra care, usually, to get names right. I maybe guess.


Anyblue... anyone done any tests yet!?

I bee interested even though I never gave it too much thought as I usually didn't hunt with the fellows for the sake of their experience points. All this makes me want to do some tests of my own, though!

[Alhanelem]

Your name is difficult to think of without looking 3 times or copy pasting, so unless I were directly quoting you I can either refer to you in some way such as a variation of your name which everyone will understand, or I can be vague and unspecific about who I am talking about. Yes, people do not spell or put your name correctly, but maybe its partly your fault and you should have made it comprehensible to most people so they could read it and type it easier?
Blame Square Enix, it's not my invention. :p

(Also blame SE for forcing me to spell it wrong on the forums because correctly spelled it contains the word 'anal')